Marshfield Associates Buys 796 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Marshfield Associates grew its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 0.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 169,586 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the period. AutoZone makes up approximately 11.3% of Marshfield Associates’ holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Marshfield Associates’ holdings in AutoZone were worth $534,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AZO. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 354,692.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 993,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,293,100,000 after buying an additional 993,139 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $424,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 2,714.8% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 120,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,267,000 after buying an additional 115,924 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 186.8% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 92,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,544,000 after buying an additional 60,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 319.0% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 36,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,375,000 after buying an additional 27,580 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,787.00 to $3,500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $3,205.00 to $2,917.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,038.00 to $3,125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $3,634.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,232.88.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AZO opened at $3,326.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $56.24 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,510.00 and a 52 week high of $3,345.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,134.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,053.20.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $53.31 by ($5.20). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.25 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.40% and a negative return on equity of 52.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $46.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 155.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total value of $4,910,150.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,166.42. This represents a 56.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,075.20, for a total transaction of $922,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,613,046.40. This represents a 2.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,880 shares of company stock worth $46,225,660. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AutoZone Profile

AutoZone, Inc retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. The company provides various products for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products.